Your 2010 year in blogging

Happy New Year from WordPress.com! To kick off the year, we’d like to share with you data on how your blog has been doing. Here’s a high level summary of your overall blog health:

Wow

Blog-Health-o-Meter™ We think you did great!

Why thank you WordPress, it is very encouraging to hear from you saying such nice things about my blog. It is very encouraging to be told I am doing well… though I am not sure I agree with your criteria for judging that! If you are basing the quality of what I write on the growing or shrinking number of people who read it… that is a very slippery slope. Beware wanting to know the numbers! Beware counting and becoming proud… or even discouraged. David ran into big trouble over that sort of thing (1 Chronicles 21).

No doubt that I have been prolific in the last 3 months as my overwhelmed and exhausted readership can vouch 🙂 70 posts in just 3 months is going some, especially considering the l-e-n-g-t-h of most of mine – and a picture or two (of my own) on every post: that is a lot of work. I have put my heart and soul into this, no holds barred – the mix of stuff that comes out never ceases to amaze me and of course I’m pleased to see that there is a favourable response. I am more than grateful for those who are interested enough to want to share my journey – and you know who you are better than I do! But that cannot be the reason I am doing this.

Like a little girl getting a pat on the head, I can be pleased with my progress… But if I let the praise of men go to my head and actually publish my stats for all to see, surely I am entering some sort of competition: who has done ‘better’ and who has done ‘worse’? “Look at what I have achieved… look at me blogging!” Perhaps that is allowed if I am an excited child or if it is just me against the elements and I achieve success – then I can boast freely, like Rebecca here, so proud of her 800 metre swimming badge at the age of 8. We can all join in those celebrations!

But I don’t want to do that if it is at someone else’s expense… because what inevitably happens is that we start comparing ourselves with one another, who came first, second and third, and certain people get raised up and others fall back and give up. Comparison is deadly! In Jesus’ kingdom we are not supposed to be like that: every voice counts, every story counts, every gift counts, every soul counts. In fact we are supposed to take more care of the weaker members , ‘so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other’ 1 Corinthians 12v25.

Its a tough choice not to boast though, and its left me feeling humbled. The desire to be seen to succeed is so strong in all of us and to stay hidden is hard. It is a fine line between wanting to be heard and wanting glory for oneself: its so tempting to show off. I must stay under God’s hand and let Him do the promoting.

So thanks for the ammunition, WordPress, but I don’t want to fire it. Nor if my statistics were not so WOW would I want to turn it on myself! I simply want my writing to speak for itself and be the influence and catalyst that the One who inspires it desires it to be. As I said before (Bloggety Blog) it is not about numbers: if I can make a difference to just one person’s day, then it is worth it.

So huge thanks to everyone who is supporting me as I am carried along on this flow, but no, I am not going to tell you how many jumbo jets full of people are equivalent to the number of hits I have had 😉 That is a secret between me and my Father, who pats me on the head and says ‘Well done for doing what I gave you to do’.

This is my voice – and you have yours. So why not check out a new and very quiet voice and enjoy what she has to say…? Bring on the sound of many voices! And thank you for flying with me in 2010! See you in 2011 x

One Response to It’s not a competition!

‘Its a tough choice not to boast though, and its left me feeling humbled. The desire to be seen to succeed is so strong in all of us and to stay hidden is hard. It is a fine line between wanting to be heard and wanting glory for oneself: its so tempting to show off. I must stay under God’s hand and let Him do the promoting’.

I am learning this – God needs to become our/my identity – what I do – what I wear- what I drive – who I am – so when everything fails or comes to an end – He remains. I am not there yet – its a pathway that I am travelling x